Civil War-dated partly-printed vellum DS as president, one page, 14.25 x 12.25, March 7, 1865. President Lincoln appoints Alfred Hornsby as "Third Lieutenant in the Revenue Service of the United States." Signed at the conclusion by President Abraham Lincoln and Acting Secretary of the Treasury George Harrington. This is a particularly desirable and unusual pairing of signatures—six weeks later, Harrington was charged with organizing President Lincoln's state funeral, acting as Grand Marshal on the mournful occasion. In fine condition, with faint toning along the intersecting folds.
Hornsby's service branch—the United States Revenue Cutter Service—was established in 1790 by Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton as an armed maritime law enforcement service. Originally seen as a group of waterborne tax collectors, members of the organization served in a variety of capacities, eventually morphing into the US Coast Guard. During the Civil War, revenue cutters were stationed at every major seaport of the nation, and used during the war to search for smugglers, protect US ports, and assist the Navy in logistical operations. A highly desirable war-dated Lincoln appointment for a forgotten seafaring agency.
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